New Idea For You To Consider - CMM In Two Weeks

[Note, this blog is being updated on the fly and edits are included in these brackets]

So, someone at NBC or WB or in some dark corner of some room, acquired the rights to the last 11 episodes of season 2 as opposed to the first 11. This is of course a problem since we have been watching season 1 in order during the CMM event.

NBC has stated that it is currently working to correct the problem. However, this likely requires negotiation, renegotiation, and the sign-off from every single person involved in the show who stood to receive residuals once the promotional period (given to the network where they collect revenue without paying residuals) ended. Therefor, it might be some weeks before that happens (if it happens).

On a positive note, we have always had a 3-week buffer between number of episodes to watch and number of weeks until the show returns. That means we can take some time off or not jump into season 2 of CHUCK right away. And that means we have a decision to make, and since I like for the fans to be involved in these decisions and not just a handful of us pushing the fandom buttons, I have a few ideas to toss out to you all and you can vote for or against them (or inject your own).

Disclosure time: These ideas come from discussions Wendy Farrington and I have had over a few weeks. Therefor, any other suggestion that might work better may still be out there, so share and if people like it, I will add it and credit you (please leave your name if you are posting anonymously).

1) Take at least one week off, on August 31st [September 7th is also an option now], [redacted]. This gives us a quick breather between seasons and affords NBC/WB an extra week [or two] to get the right episodes up on the site.

2) Same as point 1, but we rewatch all of season 1 on August 31st [and/or September 7th], starting at 9AM EST and ending whenever we finish. This will give everyone around the world the chance to jump in at some point and give us the chance to trend for longer than an hour (depending, of course, on participation).

3) Same as point 2 except we choose a select number of episodes (perhaps the top 3 or 5) and watch them at specific times during the day. This would give us a chance to trend longer provided that we have many involved.

4) On August 31st [and potentially September 7th], we put together NBC Viewing Parties and watch episodes from the second half of season 2 in groups of ten with different people volunteering to host (you need to have a pretty solid computer system to host a room without having pausing issues).

5) Your recommended option. :)

Sarah's death interrupted by a wedding.

Please comment (anonymous posting is enabled, but please sign with a name) and share with your friends so we can get as many comments as possible. We have about a 5-days before we have to have all options on the table.

Chuck Me Mondays succeeds again!

Well, last night was a lot of fun. We watched an episode of CHUCK and trended #chuckmeout on Twitter for over an hour. I am very happy to see that we had so many more tweets and participants than over the last month. Prior to last night, we were averaging around 1,500 tweets. But last night, we had over 2,500 tweets during the episode viewin and, more importantly, even more tweets following the episode (I stopped counting after 3,000).

While there is still not enough evidence to prove whether or not the #chuckmemondays tag was banned (since we trended to 10th after 37 minutes and 2,000 tweets, which was more than we were doing for at least 4 of the 5 weeks where we failed to trend), logic dictates that more people tweeting the correct tag helps. What helped us trend for over an hour was all the people still tweeting following the episode. We even dropped off the trending list a couple of times, only to return again (actually trending 8th to 9th to 10th and back). An analytical mind would deduce that this means we trended because of 1) more people participating and 2) more tweets containing the hashtag during that time-frame.

Therefor, for us to continue to succeed, we need more people and to tweet our hashtags or terms for longer than just the length of the episode. We need to maybe start a few minutes early and end some time later. This will help us in the long run and promote the show.

Speaking of which, last night a handful of us went to the search list of #chuckmeout and looked for anyone asking what the term was related to, and we sent them tweets telling them about the show. This is how we can affect people around the world and get them to check out the show. Please help that effort during future CMM/CMO events.

Anyway, great job everyone. Let's keep it going.

#chuckmeout and the NBC forum issues

First of all, we are using #chuckmeout tomorrow as our hashtag and NOT using #chuckmemondays (please, don't use it).

Second, you can find out what this whole NBC forum issue stuff is about by listening here or reading about it here (worth reading that great blog even if you listen to the podcast).

Spread the word.

Chuck Me Mondays - August 17 - Finalized Twitter Strategy

Based on your comments alone, the strategy for this Monday has been set. The people have spoken. :)

This Monday we will stop using #chuckmemondays in our tweets and instead begin using #chuckmeout.

At least for this week, we are not using any other hashtag in our tweets. Most importantly, DO NOT use #chuckmemondays in your tweets, at least until we can test whether or not that hashtag has been banned. Using it could result in your entire message being banned and not being counted in the trend.

So, your tweets on Monday during Chuck Me Mondays should look something like this:

Can Ellie get any prettier?! #chuckmeout

Please, spread the word about this blog and the use of the hashtag. Try to avoid even using #chuckmemondays at all in case it is a banned hashtag.

FYI: It is recommended that you create a brand new Twitter account for this week's Chuck Me Mondays in case your old has been banned from trending due to use of #chuckmemondays. You should certainly create a new account for tweeting during these events if you were ever put into "Twitter jail."

EDIT: If your Twitter account is set to "Private" then your tweets do not count in the trend. Your account must be public.

Chuck Me Mondays - New Strategy - Final Selection

The CHUCK fans have spoken and we have a basic idea of where we want to go in the future with this event on Twitter. The fans have selected some form of Chuck Me Out as the new trending topic. So, here are the options (please comment on the one you like the most):

1. Chuck Me Out by itself with no hashtags anywhere in the tweet.

Positives:
No hashtags means Twitter cannot ban the common words. Also, since Chuck has trended on its own for various reasons, we could see that word trend on its own as a worst case scenario. People would click on the trending word and discover we were talking about the TV show.

Negatives:
One extra character used than if it was a hashtag. Fans used to typing in hashtags might forget and limit trending potential. Not instantly recognizable as related to the show.

Example:
Sarah is so pretty in this scene! Chuck Me Out

2. #chuckmeout by itself and no other hashtags.

Positives:
People already used to typing in hashtags should be comfortable with this new tag. It also makes searching for specific tweets easier and relates to the website and Twitter account of the same name. It also promotes NBC's campaign to get people to engage in the show on their site and watch the episodes on their site. It also uses less characters so you can tweet more letters.

Negatives:
Easier for Twitter to ban (if they are doing it) and prevent us from trending.

Example:
Captain Awesome has his shirt off again! #chuckmeout


3. #chuckmeout and Chuck Me Out together.

Positives:
Potential of trending either the hashtag or the non-hashtag term, or both. The word Chuck could trend on its own due to other people using it for non show related purposes. Includes the name of the Twitter account, the web site, and NBC's campaign name.

Negatives:
If the hashtag gets banned, it could mean every tweet using it gets banned, which would include the phrase Chuck Me Out (though, not permanently). This method also uses up more characters and so your messages have less content.

Example:
Morgan should really be with Anna. #chuckmeout chuck me out

Please post your opinions below (anonymous posting is enabled, but that also means each message is moderated for content first). Choose an option and comment on your reasoning. Thank you.

So what about August 17th and Chuck Me Mondays?

Last night it seemed most people got the message that we had changed our method of tweeting and that is a positive sign. It means we CAN change strategies as long as everyone is given the time to receive the word.

So, next week we want to change things up. A few ideas have been tossed around:

1. ChuckTV had suggested tweeting the episode name being watched in each tweet. I like this idea but I am not sure if it is the best idea since it will change each week. On the other hand, it is easy for everyone to figure out what we are tweeting each week as long as they know the names of the episodes.

2. Another idea is to just tweet the word Chuck or the phrase Chuck Me Mondays without any hashtag. I like this idea since it contains a common name that Twitter is not likely to ban. If we go with the former, then it is easy since it is the name of the show and very easy to type. If the latter, it includes the name of the campaign and also includes the name of the show.

3. An idea that materialized last night is to abandon any reference to Chuck Me Mondays and instead aim to promote NBC's fan friendly site ChuckMeOut.com. We could tweet #chuckmeout or chuckmeout or chuck me out. This is beneficial to us all since their success will help the show and fan sites that ChuckMeOut.com is linking to and/or helping to promote.

Please comment here about these ideas and let us know which one you like, what part you like, or toss in another idea. We should try to have the strategy hammered out by the weekend. Thanks.

Welcome to Chuck Me Mondays HQ ;)

So, now that everything is straightened out. Again, we are using #chuckmemondays and chuck me mondays this week.

So, your tweets should look like:


I love Morgan! #chuckmemondays chuck me mondays

Thank you for your co-operation and enjoy the added value our promotional partners at ChuckTV.Net provide for this campaign.

ChuckTV.Net strategy issue

ChuckTV.Net has been a very helpful hub for Chuck Me Mondays and I have appreciated all they have done, but they should not be setting ANY strategy without first talking to the people who have been doing it for 2 months now. This is the strangest move by ChuckTV. No one from the site has said one word to me. Whereas I have been blogging about it since last week.

I even included a version of this idea in the blog. We are trying to figure things out and posting contradicting strategy is helpful to no one. Mel and I have never discussed strategy and I see no reason why she should begin to attempt to control it now without first contacting the campaign creator/manager first.

Edit: Apparently ChuckTV is removing their suggestion. Move along.

Chuck Me Mondays today and in the future

As I have said in the last two postings, our plan for today, August 10th, is to tweet both the hashtag #chuckmemondays and the non-hashtag chuck me mondays. So, your tweets should look like:


I love Sarah Walker! #chuckmemondays chuck me mondays

However, in the future, and perhaps NEXT WEEK, we will likely adopt a new strategy. tweeting the name of the episode we are watching. Therefor, in the future, we might be watching an episode and tweeting something like:

I love Chuck and Sarah in first date on chuck me mondays

Or:

I love Chuck and Sarah in First Date

Just know that this idea is out there and that it is in the pipeline for the future. This should suppress any belief that Twitter is banning our tweets and also be easy enough for people to remember to do as it is episode specific. Please comment on this idea. I have enabled anonymous comments for those who are too lazy to create accounts.